Two Kentucky men convicted in voting, elections fraud case

Posted on September 17, 2004

Two Kentucky men convicted in voting, elections fraud case
By ROGER ALFORD | Associated Press

LONDON, Ky. -- A Kentucky businessman was found guilty Thursday of election fraud for orchestrating a scheme to buy votes from impoverished mountain residents in two races in 2002. The jury deliberated about four hours before returning the verdict against Ross Harris, a Pikeville coal operator whom prosecutors portrayed as the kingpin of the election fraud conspiracy. An associate was also convicted, and both men face about two years in prison. The verdicts came after a trial in which various witnesses told of voters gathering in a church parking lot in an Appalachian county to collect $10 bills after leaving the polls in the 2002 election. Others testified about large contributions to some candidates before the election to be used to buy votes.

Defense attorney Larry Mackey said the depiction was false. He said his client was being treated for life-threatening cancer during the period in question. "We appreciate the jury's attention throughout the trial, but at the end of the day we're disappointed with the verdict," Mackey said.

Harris was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and to buy votes, three counts of mail fraud and one count of structuring withdrawals from a bank account to avoid federal reporting requirements.

Glen Turner, an executive in Harris' mining company, was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and two counts of mail fraud. The mail fraud counts involve the sending of bogus campaign finance reports to the state.Prosecutors claimed Harris illegally contributed some $40,000 to a former state senator's unsuccessful judicial race, and that Harris and Turner gave an additional $25,000 to the re-election campaign of a judge. They said the money was used in a scheme disguised as a "get out the vote" effort.
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http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040917/NEWS/409170406/1051/NEWS01
(On edit: Free registration required)

Sure hope he's not a Democrat, but I rather doubt it, all things considered!

Prosecutors contend that in the fall of 2002, Mr. Harris funneled $41,000 in illegal contributions to the campaign of John Doug Hays, a candidate for a Pike County district judgeship. The money financed a vote-buying scheme disguised as a program to pay people $50 each to transport, or haul, voters to the polls, the prosecutors contend.
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Mr. Harris and his nine co-defendants have pleaded not guilty, arguing that the people who received $50 checks really did drive voters to the polls. State law allows campaigns to pay for "vote hauling," a practice that began decades ago when many poor and elderly voters in isolated hollows lacked transportation.
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The Harris case is one of several in Kentucky and West Virginia that prosecutors say confirm longstanding suspicions that vote-buying remains common in Appalachia.

Last year, Donnie Newsome, the judge-executive of Knott County in eastern Kentucky, was convicted of buying votes for $50 to $100 a piece in a 1998 primary race. He has been sentenced to 26 months in prison.Seeking to reduce his sentence, Mr. Newsome has agreed to testify that Mr. Harris gave him about $20,000 in cash for his re-election campaign in 2002. Mr. Harris's lawyers say Mr. Newsome is lying in exchange for leniency.

In West Virginia, Johnny Mendez, the sheriff of Logan County, pleaded guilty last month to federal charges that he accepted $10,000 in illegal contributions and used the money to buy votes in 2000 and 2004.
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In the mountains of eastern Kentucky, one of the poorest regions of the country, vote fraud has most often taken the form of vote-buying, experts said.

"It is basically conceded in Kentucky that people have a constitutional right to sell their vote," a former assistant state attorney general was quoted by Larry J. Sabato, the political scientist, in his book, "Dirty Little Secrets: The Persistence of Corruption in America Politics."
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http://scoop.agonist.org/story/2004/8/27/132039/096

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Kentucky Voter Fraud Case Goes to Jury
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer


LONDON, Ky. (AP)--A jury began deliberations Wednesday in an election fraud case against an eastern Kentucky businessman accused of leading a scheme to buy votes from poor mountain residents.

During the more than three-week trial of eastern Kentucky coal operator Ross Harris and one of his employees, Glen Turner, witnesses told of voters gathering in a church parking lot in rural Pike County to collect $10 bills after leaving the polls in the 2002 election. Others testified about contributions to some candidates before the election, allegedly to buy votes.
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``While he never runs for office himself, he is always behind the scenes,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Taylor said. ``Behind the scenes, he secretly funds campaigns with illegal contributions.''

Defense attorney Larry Mackey, however, said federal prosecutors failed to prove their case. Mackey said Harris was being treated for life-threatening cancer during the period in question and would not have taken time from his hospital bed to help buy votes in the elections.
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Taylor alleges Harris illegally funneled money into the re-election campaign of Knott County Judge-Executive Donnie Newsome and the unsuccessful judicial race of former state Sen. John Doug Hays.
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http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V3658.AP-Vote-Fraud-Kent.html
(Free Registration required)

Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2004


AP
Ross Harris.

PIKE ELECTION-FRAUD TRIAL

Election fraud trial of Harris, Turner begins

PROSECUTOR SAYS GRUDGE AGAINST PIKE CANDIDATE WAS MOTIVE
By Lee Mueller

EASTERN KENTUCKY BUREAU


LONDON - Pikeville businessman Ross Harris got personally involved in a 2002 judicial race to unseat a judge whose wife had just implicated one of Harris' close friends in a sex scandal, a federal prosecutor said yesterday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Taylor said Harris weighed in not so much because he wanted former state Sen. John Doug Hays to win, but to beat Darrel Mullins.

The alleged motive for the involvement of Harris -- a wealthy coal operator who was building a statewide reputation as a political fund-raiser -- in a low-level judge's race surfaced yesterday as attorneys delivered opening statements in a federal vote-fraud trial.

Harris, 57, and an employee, Loren Glenn Turner of Floyd County, are on trial on charges of conspiracy to buy votes and mail fraud. Eight others, including Hays and his wife, are scheduled for trial in October.
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http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/2004/08/26/news/9498349.htm

Get with the program small timers. All vote fraud prosecution is local. You either work with the mob on its turf or expect retaliation for stealing their business.

you nailed it!

If it were a Democrat it would have been part of the headline.

A friend of mine in southern Indiana says votes can be bought for a pint of whiskey and $20.
That was awhile ago, though.